Record Alberta Whitetail Deer Photographs

Outline:
Email with photographs of a hunter posing with a very large deer, claims the animal was the biggest typical whitetail deer ever taken in Alberta.

Brief Analysis:
Photographs are authentic, but description is inaccurate

Example:Subject: Record Canada Whitetail Deer ( Killed 2007 )

Killed 2007

He shot this near Two Hills this fall (winter). Biggest typical whitetail take in Alberta EVER! He will be on the cover of Big Buck magazine very soon. Don’t know the score but it would be unbelievable. He has been offered $200,000.00 for it already.

Detailed Analysis:
According to this message, which is circulating via email and has been posted to a number of hunting forums and blogs, the attached photographs show a hunter posing with the largest typical whitetail deer ever taken in Alberta, Canada. Although some commentators have postulated that the images may have been manipulated, credible online sources suggest that they are in fact authentic. However, the angle from which the photographs were taken and the relative positions of the hunter and the carcass may make the deer seem somewhat larger than it really is.

In any case, the description that accompanies the photographs is not accurate. Although the deer is certainly very large, I have found no reliable references that confirm that the deer was the biggest ever taken in Alberta and there are conflicting reports about the actual score of the animal. Moreover, the deer was not shot in 2007 as claimed in the message. According to information on the Boone and Crockett Club website, the deer was taken by Scott Yetman in the fall of 2006:

Scott Yetman was guiding for Diamond Willow Outfitters last fall, and was rewarded by being allowed to go on a hunt of his own. This giant buck was the result, and is reported to be Scott’s first deer ever! Reports are that it will score approximately 190 as a typical, but it has not yet been officially entered.

One of the photographs is also featured on the Raven Wear website with the following caption:

Scott Yetman, from Newfoundland took this tremendous Alberta buck the third week in November of ’06. He scores 212 gross.

If Yetman’s deer was ever officially entered, it is so far unclear what the animal actually scored. Some versions of the message claim that the deer was a World’s Record rather than just an Alberta record. However, the current world record for a typical whitetail deer is listed by Boone and Crockett as an animal bagged by Milo N. Hanson in 1993 that scored 213.

The message claims that the hunter was to be featured on the cover of Big Buck magazine. However, an examination of back-issue covers for Big Buck Magazine for 2006 and 2007 reveal that the hunter has not yet been featured. Although he did not make the cover, some reports indicate that one of the photographs of the hunter was used in an advertisement in one issue of the magazine.

Last updated: 17th December 2007
First published: 17th December 2007
By Brett M. ChristensenAbout Hoax-Slayer